Green Party co-leader James Shaw is fending off challenges, first in his role as Climate Change Minister and then in his role at the head of his party.
At a hearing of Parliament’s Environment Select Committee this week he faced attacks from National and Act MPs on his climate change policies. Meanwhile the party faithful will meet in Christchurch this weekend, with some members of the youth arm planning to force a vote on his leadership.
In the select committee hearing the National Party MP Scott Simpson led the charge, saying the Emissions Reduction Plan was full of ideas and commitments but few concrete actions.
“The plan is riddled with words like ‘investigate’, ‘consider’, ‘scope out’, ‘explore’, ‘evaluate’.
“Critics of the plan have labelled it as merely just a plan for a plan. Is this real or is this just smoke and mirrors?”
Shaw responded that implementation of many parts of the plan were well under way.
He said other areas had never had substantive government plans in place. These needed full policy development and money set aside so work could be done properly.
Other countries were well ahead in their programme to cut emissions, with New Zealand still laying the groundwork in some areas.
Meanwhile, Climate Change Commission chair Dr Rod Carr rejected claims from the Opposition that plans to cut climate gases were not properly costed.
He was asked why the commission, which wrote the national roadmap on which the Emissions Reduction Plan is based, had not undertaken cost-benefit analysis.
Carr replied the more granular work was to be done by the government and the commission did not want to double up.
“We didn’t seek to replicate what would be coming down the pike when each specific initiative that is in the Emissions Reduction Plan will need to go through its regulatory processes.”
Commission chief executive Jo Hendy said the commission would run a ruler over the plan as part of its monitoring role.
Whether it’s the same kind of criticism Shaw is facing over climate change, reports have surfaced that Green Party members are troubled that measures on climate change are not sharp enough to tackle the problem. They are calling for a more decisive onslaught to cut emissions, particularly in the agricultural sector.
Shaw, whose leadership role was challenged at last year’s AGM, is nonchalant about the possibility of a repeat situation this weekend.
“I do expect that there will be some people who vote to reopen nominations, but that happens every year,” he said.
The difficulty for Shaw is that it doesn’t happen to everyone – co-leader Marama Davidson is not subject to a similar leadership challenge.
Asked why members wanted to see him gone, and not his co-leader, Shaw said this was a question that needed to be put to party members.
“Really that’s up to them. But, you know, there has been a small group of people who have been wanting to see the back of me ever since they saw the front of me,” Shaw said.
The latest move has been from members of the Young Greens private Facebook group.
In a post by one member, first reported by Salient Magazine, there was a call for a meeting to discuss “re-opening nominations for co-leader… a lot are unhappy with his leadership”.
A second member agreed and said they would love a co-leader on par with Davidson.
Another member told 1News they’d been questioning Shaw’s leadership among their friends.
If Point of Order were referee of this challenge, it would have to say from its observations that Shaw has done a much better job than many of his other ministerial colleagues, and NZ has a more effective climate change policy than – for example – Australia.
Point of Order 
I think we would be better off persecuting witches for weather we didn’t like. It seemed to work for the Middle Ages.
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? is Rod Carr a Climate Scientist?? or A Banker??….from Trevor.
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